Magnum Launches Fund to Support Haiti Coverage

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Magnum Launches Fund to Support Haiti Coverage

Magnum Photo Agency has established an internal fund to support long-form coverage of Haiti by its photographers for at least the next 12 months, says director Mark Lubell.

“We had three photographers in Haiti shortly after the earthquake," says Lubell, "But now, internally, we have [set up] a small fund which will pay for photographers to go in and out of Haiti over the next year, maybe even a year-and-a-half.”

Lubell believes Magnum's presence is particularly important to Haiti coverage, because its photographers own the rights to their photos. "When you own the story," he says, "you hang out and you take a much more in-depth look. You don’t just jump off a plane take pictures and go home. Not only is [Magnum’s approach] in-depth, but also the quality of the work is so high.”

Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson ruffled feathers earlier this month, explaining his decision not to travel to Haiti, “I am not a news photographer. I would just be composing pictures of misery. Not to mention being another mouth to feed and another camera in the face of someone who has just lost everything.” Anderson added, “They didn’t need me getting in the way.”

Lubell thinks Anderson’s caution is common among Magnum members, “I think a lot of photographers don’t want to feel like they are draining on a desperate situation, and they want to figure out how to do something in a meaningful way.”

The Magnum archive includes a lot of work of Haiti from the past decades. Alex Webb, Bruce Gilden and Cristina Garcia Romero have made repeated visits to Haiti documenting the street activities and spiritual mores of Haitian society. More recently, Thomas Dworzak photographed civil unrest, and Jonas Bendiksen covered public health initiatives for the Access to Life project.

The Haitian earthquake compelled the photojournalism community to put its ethics and practices under the microscope once more. Magnum’s output will be observed closely and considered by many as a litmus paper for the industry’s integrity.

Photo: Autha Adolph (center) is an AIDS patient who has made a substantial improvement since starting ARV treatments in late 2007. Plateau Central, Haiti, 2008.Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos

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Pete Brook is a photo researcher and prison educator. He writes regularly about photography at his blog Prison Photography.